Mullerornis modestus is an extinct species of elephant bird, and the only member of the genus Mullerornis.
Taxonomy The genus Mullerornis was described in 1894 by Alphonse Milne-Edwards & Alfred Grandidier.Milne-Edwards A, Grandidier A. 1894 Observations sur les Aepyornis de Madagascar. C. R. Hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci. Paris 13, 122–127. The genus is named after Georges Muller, a French explorer, who was killed in 1892 by hostile members of the Sakalava people.
Synonyms of Mullerornis modestus Mullerornis betsilei Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 (Betsileo elephant bird) Mullerornis agilis Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 (agile/coastal elephant bird) Mullerornis rudis Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 (robust elephant bird) ?Mullerornis grandis Lamberton 1934 (holotype destroyed in a fire in 1995)
Description
Mullerornis is smaller than the more well-known Aepyornis,Burney, et al. (1997), p. 763MacPhee, et al. (1985), table II with a still substantial body mass of approximately , along with a height of 1.49 meters (4.88 ft). A bone possibly belonging to Mullerornis has been radiocarbon dated to about 1260 BP,Burney, et al. (2004), p. 50 suggesting that the animal was still extant at the end of the first millennium.Burney et al. (2004), p. 25 Aepyornis modestus was shown by Hansford and Turvey (2018) to be a senior synonym of all nominal Mullerornis species described by Milne-Edwards and Grandidier (1894), resulting in the new combination Mullerornis modestus.Hansford, J. P.; Turvey, S. T. (2018-09-26). "Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity for the world's largest bird". Royal Society Open Science. 5 (9): 181295. doi:10.1098/rsos.181295.
Palaeobiology Nocturnality Like other elephant birds and its kiwi relatives, Mullerornis probably was nocturnal based on the small size of its optic lobes, though it shows less optical lobe reduction than these other taxa, implying slightly more crepuscular habits.Christopher R. Torres & Julia A. Clarke. 2018. Nocturnal giants: evolution of the sensory ecology in elephant birds and other palaeognaths inferred from digital brain reconstructions. Proc. R. Soc. B 285 (1890); doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1540
Diet Isotopic evidence suggests that Mullerornis was likely a browsing herbivore.
Reproduction The eggs of Mullerornis are substantially smaller than those of Aepyornis, weighting approximately , with a shell thickness of about .
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